50, 51 and 52
by 7 Demi-gods Answer the Call
Summary: The Gods read Chapters 50, 51 and 52 from Mark of Athena (T because I'm worried)
1. Prolog

It was just a normal day on Olympus which meant that the Gods were having their usual arguments:

Hera was yelling at Zeus for chasing a nymph, "It's been thousands of years Zeus! When are you going to stop cheating?!"

"Yes dear…" Zeus mumbled and Hera realized he wasn't even paying attention making her even more furious.

Poseidon was ranting on about how his spring was better than Athena's olive tree until the Goddess of Wisdom finally looked up from her book, "Your brain really is kelp if you think that a spring is better than my olive tree!"

"Is not owl face!" Poseidon said glaring back at Athena.

"Tuna breathe!"

Poseidon smirked, "How does it feel to have your sacred animal be the icon for a place like Hooters?"

Athena made a mental note to destroy the idiot mortal who dared using her sacred animal for a place like that then smirked back, "I'm sure Amphitrite will love to know that you've been in that place."

Aphrodite gushed, "They make such a cute couple!"

"Shut up Aphrodite!" Artemis said adjusting her bow

"You're just mad because I made one of your hunters fall in love!"

Artemis glared at Aphrodite getting an arrow notched aiming it at her, "Hey lay off my girl!" Ares said the burping.

Hephaestus rolled his eyes but didn't say anything he just fiddled with a piece of metal. Apollo and Hermes were cracking up talking about plans for a new prank they were going to play on Dionysus at Camp Half-Blood.

Hestia sighed listening to all chaos while tending to her hearth, suddenly there was a bright light next to the hearth. The room went silent everyone stared at the yellow envelope with a pink sticky note on it.

"What is it?" Apollo asked as Hestia picked it up.

Hestia read aloud the sticky note feeling a little uncomfortable with everyone staring at her,

**_"Dear Gods,_**

**_This is a section of a story from the future. It's about Percy Jackson…_**

Poseidon beamed at the sound of his favorite son's name and savor of Olympus.

**_…Annabeth Chase and other demi-gods trying to stop Gaea. We hope you…enjoy this little segment._**

**_Best wishes, the fates."_**

"We're going to hear a story about the cutest couple ever?!" Aphrodite said bouncing up and down in her thrown.

"Didn't you almost break them up with that Rachel girl and made it way more complicated for them to get together?" Hermes asked.

Aphrodite waved the question off clapping her hands together while Hestia took out a small packet of papers.

"The Mark of Athena…" she read and Athena's eyes widen, "Chapter 50 and 51: Annabeth. Who wants to read?"

"I will…" Athena said quietly knowing and Poseidon frowned noticing how nervous looked. Athena flipped over a page and began reading, "**Chapter 50: ANNABETH**."


	2. Chapter 50

"**Chapter 50: ANNABETH**…" Athena read,

**ANNABETH LOST TRACK OF TIME.**

"Is she with _Percy_?" Aphrodite asked giggling, the Olympians rolled their eyes.

**She could feel the ambrosia she'd eaten earlier starting to repair her leg, but it still hurt so badly that the pain throbbed right up to her neck.**

Athena winced but continued reading.

**All along the walls, small spiders scuttled in the darkness, as if awaiting their mistress's orders.**

Athena's face went pale, she took a deep breath and everyone was silent.

Poseidon took a deep breath as well. Even if he didn't really like Athena, her daughter made his son happy and that's all that mattered to him.

**Thousands of them rustled behind the tapestries, making the woven scenes move like wind.**

**Annabeth sat on the crumbling floor and tried to preserve her strength. While Arachne wasn't watching, she attempted to get some sort of signal of Daedalus' laptop to contact her friends, **

"Why isn't Perseus with her?" Hestia asked quietly

"Because…" Athena said quietly, taking a calming breath, "My children have to follow my mark alone…"

"Oh." Hestia said quietly the smiled reassuring at her niece, "I'm sure that won't stop Perseus from help Annabeth."

Athena smiled and hoped her aunt was right.

**but of course she had no luck. That left her nothing to do but watch in amazement and horror as Arachne worked, her eight legs moving with hypnotic speed, slowly unraveling the silk strands around the statue.**

"What is she doing?" Poseidon asked and Athena sadly shrugged.

"Maybe Annabeth came up with a plan." Artemis said trying to make her half-sister feel better.

**With its golden clothes and its luminous ivory face,**

"It's beautiful…" Athena said quietly.

**the Athena Parthenos was even scarier than Arachne.**

Athena frowned as Apollo and Hermes couldn't help but laugh. Artemis shot two arrows at them, the arrows grazed the tops of their heads making them shut up.

**It gazed down sternly as if to say, ****_Bring me tasty snacks or else_****.**

Apollo was trying to suppress a laugh and Artemis glared at him notching another arrow.

**Annabeth could imagine being an Ancient Greek, walking into the Parthenon and seeing this massive goddess with her shield, spear, and python, her free hand holding out Nike, the winged spirit of victory. It would've been enough to put a kink in the ****_chiton_**** of any mortal.**

**More than that, the statue radiated power. As Athena was unwrapped,**

"Is Athena getting und-?"

"Apollo, finish that question and you'll regret it." Athena threatened then continued to read

**the air around her grew warmer. Her ivory skin glowed with life. All across the room, the smaller spiders became agitated and began retreating back into the hallway.**

Athena smiled and thought, _take that demon spawns_.

**Annabeth guessed that Arachne's webs had somehow masked and dampened the statue's magic. Now that it was free, the Athena Parthenos filled the chamber with magical energy. Centuries of mortal prayers and burnt offerings had been made it is presence. It was infused with the power of Athena.**

Hera grudgingly said, "She's very smart…"

_It makes it even more painful if I lose her…_ Athena thought.

**Arachne didn't seem to notice. She kept muttering to herself, counting out yards of silk and calculating the number of strands her project would require.**

"Project?" asked Zeus.

**Whenever she hesitated, Annabeth called out encouragement and remind her how wonderful her tapestries would look on Mount Olympus.**

Athena's eyes widen, anger bubbled up inside of her and on impulse she threw the stabled papers into the hearth.

"I will not allow _her_ work to even get close to Olympus!" Athena shouted clenching her fists and turning red. She was speechless that Arachne's work would be on Olympus and a little hurt that her daughter was encouraging it.

"I'm sure it's part of Annabeth's plan." Hestia said quietly getting the papers out of the fire, which weren't even burned, "But maybe I should read instead…"

Athena took several deep breaths trying to regain her composure but the anger and hurt was still bubbling inside.

**The statue grew so warm and bright that Annabeth could see more details of the shrine—the Roman masonry that had probably once been gleaming white, the dark bones of Arachne's past victims and meals hanging in the web,**

Athena's anger disappeared; her eyes became stormy with sadness as she thought about every child of hers who had died at the mercy of Arachne. She bit her lower lip holding back her emotions.

**and the massive cables of silk that connected the floor to the ceiling. Annabeth now saw just how fragile the marble tiles were under her feet. They were covered in fine layer of webbing, like mesh holding together a shattered mirror.**

Aphrodite gasped, "Mirrors should never be shattered!" she held her hand mirror close to her.

**Whenever the Athena Parthenos shifted even slightly, more cracks spread and widened along the floor. In some places, there were holes as big as manhole covers.**

Athena's heart raced _What if she falls into…no stop thinking like this Athena._

**Annabeth almost wished it were dark again. Even if her plan succeeded and she defeated Arachne, she wasn't sure how she could make it out of this chamber alive.**

_Percy, Annabeth needs your help, please come and help her._ Poseidon and Athena thought at the same time.

**"So much silk," Arachne muttered. "I could make twenty tapestries—"**

**"Keep going!" Annabeth called up, "You're doing a wonderful job."**

Athena rolled her eyes.

**The spider kept working. After what seemed like forever, a mountain of glistening silk was piled at the feet of the statue. The walls of the chamber were still covered in webs. The support cables holding the room together hadn't been disturbed. But the Athena Parthenos was free.**

Athena smiled thinking about her Parthenos.

**_Please wake up_****, Annabeth begged the statue. ****_Mother, help me._**

Athena frowned.

**Nothing happened,**

_Why didn't I help her?_ Athena wondered.

**but the cracks seemed to be spreading across the floor more rapidly. According to Arachne, the malicious thoughts of monsters had eaten away the shrine's foundations for centuries. If that was true, now that it was free the Athena Parthenos might be attracting even more attention from the monsters in Tartarus.**

**"The design, "Annabeth said. "You should hurry."**

**She lifted the computer screen for Arachne to see, but the spider snapped, "I've memorized it, child. I have an artist's eye for detail."**

"Artist's eye my-!"

"Athena, watch your language." Zeus said sternly.

**"Of course you do. But we should hurry."**

**"Why?"**

**"Well…so we can introduce your work to the world!"**

Athena gripped her throne, anger flashed through her eyes.

**"Hmm. Very well."**

**Arachne began to weave. It was slow work, turning silk strands into long strips of cloth. The chamber rumbled. The cracks at Annabeth's feet became wider.**

Everyone held their breath.

**If Arachne noticed, she didn't seem to care.**

"Of course she didn't…she hates my children…" Athena mumbled.

**Annabeth considered trying to push the spider into the pit somehow,**

Athena shook her head, "Too risky…"

**but she dismissed the idea. There wasn't a big enough hole, and besides, if the floor gave away, Arachne could probably hang from her silk and escape, while Annabeth and the ancient statue would tumble into Tartarus.**

Athena flinched at the idea, Aphrodite put a hand on Athena's shoulder, "Don't worry Percy would never let that happen."

**Slowly, Arachne finished the long strips of silk and braided them together. Her silk was flawless. Annabeth couldn't help being impressed.**

"I'm sure it's not as good as yours…" Demeter said trying to be comforting.

**She felt another flicker of doubt about her own mother. What if Arachne ****_was_**** better weaver than Athena?**

"Oh yes, a mortal better than a goddess!" scoffed Zeus.

Athena looked down, "Father…it's true…"

Everyone gasped and Hestia quickly started reading.

**But Arachne's skill wasn't the point. She had been punished for being prideful and rude. No matter how amazing you were, you could go around insulting the gods.**

"That's right." Zeus said.

**The Olympians were a reminder that there was ****_always_**** someone better than you, so you shouldn't get a big head. Still…being turned into a monstrous immortal spider seemed like pretty harsh punishment for bragging.**

Nobody said anything but some silently agreed.

**Arachne worked more quickly, bringing the strands together. Soon, the structure was done. At the feet of the statue lay a braded cylinder of silk strips, five feet in diameter and ten feet long.**

"Sounds like a those-those…I can't remember their name…" Apollo said trying to think of a name.

**The surface glistened like abalone shell, but it didn't seem beautiful to Annabeth. It was just functional: a trap. It would only be beautiful if it worked.**

**Arachne turned to her with a hungry smile. "Done! Now, my reward! Prove to me that you can deliver on your promise."**

**Annabeth studied the trap. She frowned and walked around it, inspecting the weaving from every angle. Then, careful of her bad ankle, she got down on hands and knees and crawled inside. She'd done the measurements in her head. If she'd gotten them wrong, her plan was doomed. But she slipped through the silken tunnel without touching the sides. The webbing was sticky, but not impossible so. She crawled out the other end and shook her head.**

**"There's a flaw," she said.**

Athena beamed, "Take that you nasty witch!"

Apollo and Hermes raised an eyebrow at Athena making her blush.

**"What?!" Arachne cried. "Impossible! I followed your instructions—"**

**"Inside," Annabeth said. "Crawl in and see for yourself. It's right in the middle—a flaw in the weaving."**

Athena continued to beam.

**Arachne foamed at the mouth. Annabeth was afraid she'd pushed too hard, and the spider would snap her up.**

Athena's eyes widen, "she better not…"

**She'd be just another set of bones in the cobwebs.**

**Instead, Arachne stamped her eight legs petulantly. "I do ****_not_**** make mistakes."**

Poseidon smiled and quietly said, "Challenging Athena was a mistake…"

**"Oh, it's small," Annabeth said. "You can probably fix it. But I don't want to show the gods anything but your best work. Look, go inside and check. If you can fix it, then we'll show it to the Olympians. You'll be the most famous artist of all time. They'll probably fire the Nine Muses and hire you to oversee all the arts.**

Apollo scowled, "I think not!"

**The goddess Arachne…yes, I wouldn't be surprised."**

"The goddess _Arachne_?" Athena repeated in disgust.

**"The Goddess…" Arachne's breathing turned shallow. "Yes, yes. I will fix this flaw."**

**She poked her head into the tunnel. "Where is it?"**

**"Right in the middle," Annabeth urged. "Go ahead. It might be a bit snug for you."**

Apollo groaned, "What are they called…"

**"I'm fine!" she snapped, and wriggled in.**

**As Annabeth had hoped, the spider's abdomen fit, but only barely. As she pushed her way in, the braided strips of silk expanded to accommodate her. Arachne got all the way up to her spinnerets.**

**"I see no flaw!" she announced.**

**"Really?" Annabeth asked. "Well, that's odd. Come out and I'll take another look."**

**Moment of truth.**

Everyone was on the edge of their seats.

**Arachne wriggled, trying to back up. The woven tunnel contracted around her and held her fast.**

Athena smiled.

**She tried to wriggle forward, but the trap was already stuck to her abdomen. She couldn't get through that way ether. Annabeth had been afraid the spider's barbed legs might puncture the silk, but Arachne's legs were pressed so tightly against her body she could barely move them.**

Poseidon smiled but winced at little thinking of being enclosed in a small space like that.

While Athena beamed and cheered, "I knew she could do it!"

"Alright that's quite enough." Hera said signaling Hestia to continue reading.

**"What—what is this?" she called. "I am stuck!"**

Athena smiled at the image of her old rival tricked by her favorite daughter.

**"Ah," Annabeth said. "I forgot to tell you. This piece of art is called-**

"CHINESE HANDCUFFS!" Apollo shouted, "That's what their called!"

**Chinese Handcuffs.**

"Very good Apollo…" Hestia said as Apollo beamed with pride.

**At least, it's a larger variation on that idea. I call it Chinese Spidercuffs."**

**"Treachery!" Arachne thrashed and rolled and squirmed, but the trap held her tight.**

"No, it was a matter of survival." Athena said and Hestia smiled.

**"It was a matter of survival," Annabeth corrected.**

"Like mother, like daughter." Hermes chimed in.

**"You were going to kill me either way, whether I help you or not, yes?"**

**"Well, of course! You're a child of Athena." The traps went still. "I mean…no, of course not! I respect my promises."**

"How convincing…" Ares said.

**"Uh-huh." Annabeth stepped back as the braided cylinder began to thrash again. "Normally these traps are made from woven bamboo, but spider silk is even better. It will hold you fast, and it's much too strong to break—even for you."**

**"Gahhhh!" Arachne rolled and wriggled, but Annabeth moved out of the way. Even with her broken ankle, she could manage to avoid a giant silk finger trap.**

"I wonder how she broke her ankle…" Artemis wondered quietly.

**"I will destroy you!" Arachne promised. "I mean…no, I'll be very nice to you if you let me out."**

All the Olympians rolled either eyes, expect for Athena who was still beaming with pride.

**"I'd save my energy if I were you." Annabeth took a deep breath, relaxing for the first time in hours. "I'm going to call my friends."**

Poseidon smiled at the thought of his son.

**"You're—you're going to call them about my artwork?" Arachne asked hopefully.**

"Fat chance." Athena mumbled.

**Annabeth scanned the room. There had to be a way to send an Iris-message to the ****_Argo II_****. She had some water left in her bottle, but how to create enough light and mist to make a rainbow in a dark cavern?**

Athena turned to Hephaestus, "You really need to create a demi-god proof cell phone."

He thought for a moment, "Yes…one that can turn into an indestructible armor…" he began to tinker with pieces of scrap metal.

**Arachne began to roll around again. "You're calling your friends to kill me!" she shrieked. "I will ****_not_**** die! Not like this!"**

**"Calm down," Annabeth said. "We'll let you live. We just want the statue."**

**"The statue?"**

**"Yes." Annabeth should've left it at that, but her fear was turning to anger and resentment.**

The Wisdom Goddess sighed, "That's never good…"

**"The artwork that I'll display most prominently on Mount Olympus? It won't be yours. The Athena Parthenos belongs there—right in the central park of the gods."**

Athena wanted to smile at the thought, but the fear for her daughter's safety was too great.

**"No! No, that's horrible!"**

**"Oh, it won't happen right away," Annabeth said. "First we'll take the statue with us to Greece. A prophecy told us it has the power to help defeat the giants. After that…well, we can't simply restore it to the Parthenon. That would raise too many questions. It'll be safer in Mount Olympus. It will unite the children of Athena and bring peace to the Romans and Greeks. Thanks for keeping it safe all these centuries. You've done Athena a great service."**

"She's not going to like that…" Hermes mumbled.

**Arachne screamed and flailed. A strand of silk shot from the monster's spinnerets and attached itself to a tapestry on the far wall. Arachne contracted her abdomen and blindly ripped away the waving. She continued to roll, shooting silk randomly, pulling over braziers of magic fire and ripping tiles out of the floor. The chamber shook. Tapestries began to burn.**

**"Stop that!" Annabeth tried to hobble out of the way of the spider's silk. "You'll bring down the whole cavern and kill us both!"**

**"Better than seeing you win!" Arachne cried. "My children! Help me!"**

"No…" the Wisdom Goddess eyes filled with tears, Arachne was will to kill herself if that meant Annabeth dying.

**Oh, great. Annabeth had hoped the statue's magic aura would keep away the little spiders, but Arachne continued shrieking, imploring them to help. Annabeth considered kill the spider woman to shut her up. It would be easy to use her knife now.**

"Yeah!" Ares cheered.

"But what if it cuts the finger cuffs and she can't get to her in time?" Hephaestus pointed out. Ares rolled his eyes.

**But she hesitated to kill any monster when it was helpless, even Arachne.**

"Wimp…" Ares said smirking getting a nasty glare from Athena and doused in freezing cold ocean water.

"I didn't know you cared so much for this child, Poseidon." Zeus said.

Poseidon shrugged, "She makes Percy happy."

**Besides, if she stabbed through the braided silk, the trap might unravel. It was possible Arachne could break free before Annabeth could finish her off.**

Hephaestus smirked but continued messing with wires and metal.

**All these thoughts came too late. Spiders began swarming into the chamber. The statue of Athena glowed brighter. The spiders clearly didn't want to approach, but they edged forward as if gathering their courage.**

"Stupid spiders with their large amounts of courage…" Apollo grumbled.

**Their mother was screaming for help. Eventually they would pour in, overwhelming Annabeth.**

**"Arachne, stop it!" she yelled. "I'll—"**

**Somehow Arachne twisted in her prison, pointing her abdomen toward the sound Annabeth's voice. A strand of silk hit her in the chest like a heavyweight's glove.**

Athena whimpered softly while gripping her throne.

**Annabeth fell, her leg flaring with pain. She slashed silk at the webbing with her dagger as Arachne pulled her toward her snapping spinnerets.**

**She realized her best efforts had not been enough. She would make it out of her. Arachne's children would kill her at the feet of her mother's statue.**

Athena let out a sob, burying her face into her hand for a second and then looked up, "Read on…Lady Hestia…"

**_Percy_****, she thought, ****_I'm sorry_****.**

"Aw!" Aphrodite said giving tissues to Athena.

**At that moment, the chamber groaned, and the cavern ceiling exploded in a blast of fiery light.**

"What happened?" Apollo asked.

"I don't know but that's the end of that chapter on to the next." Hestia said quietly, "Shall I read the next chapter?"

Everyone nodded.


	3. Chapter 51

"**Chapter 51: ANNABETH**." Hestia read, glancing at Athena who was still a little flustered.

**ANNABETH HAD SEEN SOME STRANGE THINGS BEFORE, but she'd never seen it rain cars.**

"Rain cars?" Hermes repeated, "Are you sure it doesn't say rain _cats_?"

"It says, 'rain _cars_'." Hestia said.

"O-kay then…"

**As the roof of the cavern collapsed, sunlight blinded her. She got the briefest glimpse of the ****_Argo II_**

Athena sighed in relief, "Good, now they can go home."

**hovering above. It must have used its ballistae to blast a hole straight through the ground.**

Hephaestus looked up from his project now suddenly interested in this story.

**Chunks of asphalt as big as garage doors tumbled down, along with six or seven Italian cars. One would've crushed the Athena Parthenos, but the statue's glowing aura acted like a force field, and the car bounced off. Unfortunately, it fell straight toward Annabeth.**

"This story is going to be the death of me…" Athena mumbled.

**She jumped to one side, twisting her bad foot.**

"Oh, that's gotta hurt!" Hermes said everyone wincing.

**A wave of agony almost made her pass out, but she flipped on her back in time to see a bright red Fiat 500 slam into Arachne's silk trap, punching through the cavern floor and disappearing with the Chinese Spidercuffs.**

"Thank goodness…" Athena said relieved that horrible monster wouldn't hurt her daughter anymore.

**As Arachne fell, she screamed like a freight train on a collision course; but her wailing rapidly faded. All around Annabeth, more chunks of debris slammed through the floor, riddling it with holes.**

**The Athena Parthenos remained undamaged, though the marble under its pedestal was a starburst of fractures. Annabeth was covered in cobwebs. She trailed strands of leftover spider silk from her arms and legs like the strings of a marionette, but somehow, amazingly, none of the debris had hit her.**

The Gods smiled at this.

**She wanted to believe that the statue had protected her, though she suspected it might've been nothing but luck.**

Athena looked down.

**The army of spiders had disappeared. Either they had fled back into the darkness, or they'd fallen into the chasm. As daylight flood the cavern, Arachne's tapestries along the walls crumbled to dust, which Annabeth could hardly bear to watch—especially the tapestry depicting her and Percy.**

Athena and Poseidon looked at each other while Aphrodite squealed at the memory.

"Um…Arachne is kind of a creeper…" Hermes said smirking Apollo nodded in agreement.

**But none of that mattered when she heard Percy's voice from above, "Annabeth!"**

Aphrodite squealed, "This is so romantic!"

**"Here!" she sobbed.**

**All the terror seemed to leave her in one massive yelp. As the ****_Argo II _****descended, she saw Percy leaning over the rail. His smile was better than any tapestry she'd ever seen.**

Aphrodite was getting teary eyed, everyone else smiled even Artemis.

**The room kept shaking, but Annabeth managed to stand. The floor at her feet seemed stable for the moment. Her backpack was missing, along with Daedalus' laptop. Her bronze knife, which she'd had since she was seven,**

Hermes, Zeus and Athena remembered watching their children travel together.

**was also gone—probably fallen into the pit. But Annabeth didn't care. She was alive.**

**She edged closer to the gaping hole made by the Fiat 500. Jagged rock walls plunged into the darkness as far as Annabeth could see. A few small ledges jutted out here and there, but Annabeth was nothing them—just strands of spider silk drip over the sides like Christmas tinsel.**

**Annabeth wondered if Arachne had told the truth about the chasm. Had the spider fallen all the way to Tartarus?**

"Hopefully…"

**She tried to feel satisfied with the idea, but it made her sad.**

"Percy is rubbing onto her…" Poseidon commented quietly.

**Arachne ****_had_**** made some beautiful things. She'd already suffered for eons. Now her last tapestries had crumbled. After all that, falling into Tartarus seemed like too harsh an end.**

A ball of guilt formed into Athena's stomach as she looked down at her lap.

**Annabeth was dimly aware of the ****_Argo II_**** hovering to as stop about forty feet from the floor.**

"I wonder what the mortals see…" Persephone wondered.

**It lowered a rope ladder, but Annabeth stood in a daze, stared into the darkness. Then suddenly Percy was next to her, lacing his fingers in hers.**

"They do make a nice couple…" Athena admitted.

**He turned her gently away from the pit**

"Yes the farther away from that pit the better." Poseidon said.

**and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and broke down in tears.**

**"It's okay," he said. "We're together."**

**He didn't say ****_you're okay_****, or ****_we're alive_****. After all they'd been through over the last year, he knew the most important thing was that they were together.**

"How cheesy…" Ares grumbled.

Aphrodite hit him over the head and Hephaestus quietly chuckled.

**She loved him for saying that.**

"She _loved_ him? Annabeth loves Percy!" Aphrodite squealed.

**Their friends gathered around them. Nico di Angelo was there, but Annabeth's thoughts were so fuzzy, this didn't seem surprising to her.**

"What does that mean?" Hades wondered.

**It seemed only right that he would be with them.**

**"Your leg." Piper knelt next to her and examined the Bubble Wrap cast. "Oh, Annabeth, what ****_happened_****?"**

"One of my daughters is on a quest?!" Aphrodite beamed with pride.

Hermes and Apollo looked at each other and said in unison, "Bubble Wrap!"

**She started to explain. Talking was difficult, but as she went along, her words came more easily. Percy didn't let go of her hand, which also made her feel more confident. When she finished, her friends' faces were slack with amazement.**

**"Gods of Olympus,"**

"Yes?" some of the more immature Gods asked.

**Jason said.**

Zeus turned into Jupiter for a moment, thinking about his Roman son.

**"You did all that alone. With a broken ankle."**

**"Well…****_some_**** of it with a broken ankle."**

"It's still amazing…" Athena said knowing what Annabeth had to go through.

**Percy grinned, "You made Arachne weave her own trap? I knew you were good, but Holy Hera—**

One of Hera's eyebrow rose.

**Annabeth, you ****_did_**** it. Generations of Athena kids tried and failed.**

"Don't remind me…"

**You found the Athena Parthenos!"**

**Everyone gazed at the statue.**

**"What do we do with her?" Frank asked. "She's huge."**

Ares turned into Mars for a moment.

**"We'll have to take her with us to Greece," Annabeth said, "The statue is powerful. Something about it will help us stop the giants."**

**"****_The gaints' bane stands gold and pale,"_****Hazel quoted.**

"Oh great…" Persephone grumbled, "Both of _your_ children are there…"

"I knew he was no good…" Demeter said in disgust.

**"****_Won with pain from a woven jail_****." She looked at Annabeth with admiration, "It was Arachne's jail. You tricked her into weaving it."**

**With a ****_lot_**** of pain, Annabeth thought.**

**Leo raised his hands.**

"I bet my son built that beauty of a ship…" Hephaestus said smiling.

**He made a finger picture from around the Athena Parthenos like he was taking measurements. "Well, it might take some rearranging, but I think we can fit her through the bay doors in the stable. If she sticks out the end, I might have to wrap a flag around her feet or something."**

Some of the Gods tried not to laugh but Athena didn't find that idea so humorous and glared at Hephaestus.

**Annabeth shuddered. She imagined the Athena Parthenos jutting from their trireme with a sign across her pedestal that red: WIDE LOAD.**

Hermes and Apollo burst into laughter; Artemis didn't do much because she was trying not to laugh herself.

**Then she thought about the other lines of the prophecy: ****_The twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the keys to endless death._**

**"What about you guys?" she asked. "What happened with the giants."**

**Percy told her about rescuing Nico, the appearance of Bacchus, and the fight with the twin in the Coliseum. Nico didn't say much. The poor guy looked like he'd been wandering through a wasteland for six weeks.**

Hades slightly flinched, he didn't show it often but he did care about his children, including Nico.

**Percy explained what Nico had found out about the Doors of Death, and how they had to be closed on both sides. Even with sunlight streaming in from above, Percy's news made the cavern seem dark again.**

**"So the mortal side is in Epirus," she said. "At least that's somewhere we can reach."**

**Nico grimaced. "But the other side is the problem. Tartarus."**

Poseidon groaned, "I have a feeling I know who's going to have to close the doors on the Tartarus side…"

"Knowing your son he'll probably volunteer." Athena said.

**The word seemed to echo through the chamber. The pit behind them exhaled a cold blast of air. That's when Annabeth knew with certainty. The chasm did go straight to the Underworld.**

**Percy must have felt it too. He guided her a little farther from the edge.**

"He's such a good boyfriend…" Aphrodite said as Athena thought it.

**Her arms and legs trailed spider silk like a bridal train. She wished she had her dagger to cut the junk off. She almost asked Percy to do the honors with Riptide, but before she could, he said, "Bacchus mentioned something about ****_my_**** voyage being harder than I expected. Not sure why—"**

"Remind me to have a chat with Bacchus…" Poseidon said.

**The chamber groaned. The Athena Parthenos tilted to one side.**

Athena flinched; she hoped Annabeth didn't risk her life just to lose her statue.

**Its head caught on one of Arachne's support cables,**

"That can't be good…" Hephaestus commented, looking up for a moment.

**but the marble foundation under the pedestal was crumbling.**

**Nausea swelled in Annabeth's chest. If the statue fell into the chasm, all her work would be for nothing. Their quest would fail.**

"They need to secure it…" Hephaestus said going back to finding with his project, it sparked and started smoking. He frowned snapping his fingers making it disappeared.

**"Secure it!" Annabeth cried.**

**Her friends understood immediately.**

**"Zhang!" Leo cried. "Get me to the helm, quick! The coach is up there alone."**

"Ares, Hephaestus if your children can get along why can't you two?" Hera asked.

They looked at each other and said nothing.

Poseidon thought for a moment, "Zhang…that sounds familiar…"

**Frank transformed into a giant eagle, and the two of them soared toward the ship.**

**Jason wrapped his arm around Piper. He turned to Percy. "Back for you guys in a sec." He summoned the wind and shot into the air.**

Athena sighed in relief, "We're home free…"

**"This floor won't last!" Hazel warned. "The rest of us should get to the ladder."**

**Plumes of dust and cobwebs blasted from holes in the floor. The spider's silk supported cables trembled like massive guitar strings and began to snap.**

Hades, Poseidon and Athena were all at the edges of either seat.

**Hazel lunged for the bottom of the rope ladder and gestured for Nico to follow, but Nico as in no condition to sprint.**

Worry flashed through Hades' eyes _what happened to him?_

**Percy gripped Annabeth's hand tighter. "It'll be fine," he muttered.**

**Looking up, she saw grappling lines shoot from the ****_Argo II_**** and wrap around the statue. One lassoed Athena's neck like a noose.**

Athena rubbed her neck.

**Leo shouted orders from the helm as Jason and Frank Flew frantically from line to line, trying to secure them.**

**Nico had just reached the ladder when a sharp pain shot up Annabeth's bad leg. She gasped and stumbled.**

_She probably just tripped…_Athena told herself.

**"What is it?" Percy asked.**

**She tried to stagger toward the ladder. Why was she moving backward instead?**

Athena's face turned pale and she closed her eyes.

**Her legs swept out from under her and fell on her face.**

**"Her ankle!" Hazel shouted from the ladder. "Cut it! Cut it!"**

"They're going to cut her ankle?!" Hermes asked horrified.

**Annabeth's mind was woolly from the pain. Cut her ankle?**

**Apparently Percy didn't realize what Hazel meant either. Then something yanked Annabeth backward and dragged her toward the pit.**

"No!" Athena shouted, "Do something Perseus!"

**Percy lunged.**

"Percy, be careful!" Poseidon said gripping his throne.

**He grabbed her arm, but the momentum carried him along as well.**

Poseidon was as pale as Athena.

**"Help them!" Hazel yelled.**

**Annabeth glimpsed Nico hobbling in their direction, Hazel trying to disentangle her cavalry sword from the rope ladder. Their other friends were still focused on the statue,**

"Forget that stupid statue and save them!" Poseidon shouted while Athena closed her eyes tightly.

**and Hazel's cry was lost in the general shouting and the rumbling of the cavern.**

Poseidon turned to Hephaestus, "Make sure those demi-god proof cell phones have flare guns."

**Annabeth sobbed as she hit the edge of the pit.**

"Someone do something!" Athena and Poseidon cried out.

Poseidon was practically pulling his hair out in frustration, "Why is nobody making sure they're okay?! Annabeth has a broken ankle for Gods' sake!"

**Her legs went over the side. Too late,**

Hestia took a shaky breath, "I can't read anymore…" she was teary eyed as the other Goddess.

"I'll read…" Zeus said quietly.

**She realized what was happening: she was tangled in the spider silk. She should have cut it away immediately. She had thought it was just loose line, but with the entire floor covered in cobwebs, she hadn't noticed that one was the strands was wrapped around foot—and the other end went straight into the pit.**

"It's all my fault…" Athena mumbled, Aphrodite and Demeter hugged her.

**It was attached to something heavy down in the darkness, something that was pulling her in.**

**"No," Percy muttered, light dawning in his eyes. "My sword…"**

Poseidon's heart skipped a beat.

**But he couldn't reach Riptide without letting go of Annabeth's arm, and Annabeth's strength was gone.**

"Poseidon I…" Athena began.

"Stop…" Poseidon said looking at his brother, "let's just finish this."

**She slipped over the edge.**

Athena sobbed.

**Percy fell with her.**

A tear ran down Poseidon's eyes.

**Her body slammed into something. She must have black out briefly from the pain. When she could see again, she realized that she'd fallen partway into the pit and was dangling over the void.**

"Why isn't Jason there?" asked Hera of all Gods.

**Percy had managed to grab a ledge about fifteen feet below the top of the chasm. He was holding on with one hand, gripping Annabeth's wrist with other, but the pull on her leg was much too strong.**

**_No escape_****, said a voice in the darkness below. ****_I got to Tartarus and will come too._**

**Annabeth wasn't sure if she actually heard Arachne's voice or if it was just in her mind.**

**The pit shook. Percy was the only thing keeping her from falling. He was barely holding on to a ledge the size of a bookshelf.**

**Nico leaned over the edge of the chasm, thrusting out his hand, but he was much too far away to help.**

Poseidon cursed.

Hades sighed, "I'm sorry brother…"

**Hazel was yelling for the others, but even if they heard her over all the chaos, they'd never make it in time.**

**Annabeth's leg felt like it was pulling free of her body.**

Everyone flinched thinking about how much pain the daughter of Athena must be in.

**Pain washed everything in red. The force of the Underworld tugged at her like dark gravity. She didn't have the strength to fight. She knew she was too far down to be saved.**

**"Percy, let me go," she croaked. "You can't pull me up."**

**His face was white with effort. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless.**

"This is so terrible…" Aphrodite croaked dabbing her eyes.

"Don't let her go son."

**"Never," he said. He looked up at Nico, fifteen feet above. "The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"**

**Nico's eyes widened. "But—"**

**"Lead them there!" Percy shouted. "Promise me!"**

**"I-I will."**

**Bellow them, the voice laughed in the darkness.****_ Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess._**

**Percy tighten his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he looked eyes with her, she thought he had never looked more handsome.**

Through the tears Aphrodite smiled.

**"We're staying together," he promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."**

**Only then did she understand what would happen. ****_A one-way trip. A very hard fall._**

**"As long as we're together," she said.**

"As long as we're together…" Aphrodite repeated, "This is so beautiful."

"Beautiful?!" Athena shot back, "They're falling into Tartarus!"

"They'd rather be together and die then separated…" Aphrodite said.

"Besides…" Poseidon sighed wiping away another tear, "They are stronger than any being together."

Zeus' eyebrows rose, "We'll discuss that later."

**She heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help. She saw the sunlight far, far above—maybe the last sunlight she would ever see.**

**Then Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness.**

"That's it." Zeus said quietly.

Athena took a shaky breath, "Poseidon I'm so sorry…"

"Athena, I've learned after a few years watching my son that…together they are unstoppable." Poseidon said wiping a tear away.

The Gods were mostly teary eyed and all the Goddess were dabbing their tears away. But they all sat in silence, a small tribute and prayer the two demi-gods.


	4. Chapter 52

**Well I'm back! Thanks so much for all the positive reviews and I'm sorry that it made you cry. Trust me when I re-read it I was in tears too…**

**If you guys want me to do the entire book I could probably do that. If I do that, then I'll just keep this up but I'll probably start a new story, with a different story line then them just getting a random packet of chapters.**

**Or if you guys just want specific parts than I can do that. If so which ones? (I'm already thinking about the one with Jason and Percy's fight and then the chapter after that)**

**On to the story!**

For once it was almost silent in the Olympian throne room.

Zeus was about to speak up when another flash of little appeared next to Hestia's Hearth. Hestia wiped her tears, cleared her throat and read aloud,

"**The Last Chapter of the Mark of Athena:**

**Chapter 52: Leo.**"

Hephaestus looked up as Hera asked, "Should we read it?"

"Of course we should read it, it's about my son!" He said with a hint of pride.

Ares rolled his eyes, "Boring…"

Hephaestus glared at his brother before he could say anything back Zeus interrupted, "That's enough, it has been sent by the Fates so we will read it. Hephaestus since it's about your son you will read it."

Hestia handed it to the God or Forges and he nodded thanks, he cleared his throat and began to read.

**LEO WAS STILL IN SHOCK.**

**Everything had happen so quickly. They had secured grappling lines to the Athena Parthenos just as the floor gave way, and the final columns of webbing snapped.**

"Well…at least they got your Parthenos…" Demeter said trying to optimistic; Athena didn't even smile at the thought of her statue.

**Jason and Frank dove down to save the others, but they'd only found Nico and Hazel hanging from the rope ladder.**

Poseidon and Athena winced.

**Percy and Annabeth were gone.**

Athena stood her face still read and puffy, "I am not going to listen to this anymore…" she said quietly then disappeared into the light.

Hera sighed thinking, _there's only so much a parent can take…_

"Read on Hephaestus…" Zeus said quietly.

**The pit to Tartarus had been buried under several tons of debris.**

"Just perfect…" Poseidon mumbled to himself.

**Leo pulled the ****_Argo II_**** out of the cavern seconds before the entire place imploded, taking the rest of the parking lot with it.**

"I'd pay to see the mortals face…" Apollo quietly joked to Hermes.

Artemis glared at them.

**The ****_Argo II_**** was now parked on a hill overlooking the city. Jason, Hazel and Frank had returned to the scene of the catastrophe, hoping to dig through the rubble and find a way to save Percy and Annabeth,**

Most of the Gods silently prayed that it found them.

**but they'd come back demoralized.**

Poseidon slumped, he was completely defeated. He believed in his son and Athena's daughter but he loved them both. The thought of them running around in the deepest part of hell finally hit him.

Hestia, took his hand and tried to comfort him.

**The cavern was simply gone. The scene was swarming with police and rescue workers.**

"Hopefully no mortals were harmed…" Persephone whispered quietly, holding Hades' hand. Demeter glance noticed and narrowed her eyes at Hades.

**No mortals had been hurt,**

Persephone smiled sadly.

**but the Italians would be scratching their heads for months, wondering how a massive sinkhole had open right in the middle of a parking lot and swallowed a dozen perfectly good cars.**

Hermes and Apollo smirked while Hephaestus looked a little horrified, "Those poor machines!"

Ares rolled his eyes, "Geek…"

"Moron…" Hephaestus said quietly than read on.

**Dazed with grief, Leo and the others carefully loaded the Athena Parthenos into the hold, using the ship's hydraulic winches**

Hephaestus smiled, "I do love some good hydraulic winches…"

"How do you expect me _not_ to make fun of you?" Ares asked.

**with an assist from Frank Zhang, part-time elephant.**

"I knew that name sounded familiar…" Poseidon said quietly.

**The statue just fit, though what they were going to do with it, Leo had no idea.**

**Coach Hedge was too miserable to help. He kept pacing the deck with tears in his eyes, pulling at his goatee and slapping the side of his head,**

"The poor guy…" Aphrodite said sadly, "I hope I gave him a nice girlfriend to comfort him."

**muttering, "I should have saved them! I should have blown up more stuff!"**

"How would blowing stuff up help?" Hermes asked and no one answered.

**Finally Leo told him to go below decks and secure everything for departure. He wasn't doing any good beating himself up.**

**The six demigods gathered on the quarterdeck and gazed at the distant column of dust still rising from the site of the implosion.**

**Leo rested his head on the Archimedes sphere,**

Hephaestus beamed with pride, "Archimedes? _My _son got Archimedes sphere?! Archimedes was an amazing inventor, engineer, astronomer and—?"

"Would you stop geeking out?!" Ares shouted.

Hephaestus glared but Aphrodite just gushed, "I do love it when he fan-boys like that."

Everyone stared at Aphrodite but Hephaestus just read on.

**which now sat on the helm, ready to be installed. He should have been excited. It was the biggest discovery of his life—even bigger than Bunker 9.**

_He found Bunker 9?_ Hephaestus thought likely Leo more and more.

**If he could decipher Archimedes' scrolls, he could do amazing things. He hardly dared to hope, but he might even be able to build a new control disk for a certain dragon friend of his.**

"Festus…" Hephaestus mumbled thinking of his other son Charles Beckendorf.

**Still, the price had been too high.**

Poseidon sighed as Hestia squeezed his hand.

**He could almost hear Nemesis laughing. ****_I told you we could do business, Leo Valdez._**

**He had opened the fortune cookie.**

**He'd gotten the access code for the sphere and saved Frank and Hazel. But the sacrifice had been Percy and Annabeth. Leo was sure of it.**

"Stupid fortune cookie…" Apollo mumbled.

**"It's my fault," he said miserably.**

**The others stared at him. Only Hazel seemed to understand. She'd been with him at the Great Salt Lake.**

Aphrodite smiled, "Oh, they were there together…" she looked at her husband, "alone?" then at Hades.

Both Gods look at each other than shuddered.

**"No," she insisted. "No, this is ****_Gaea's_**** fault. It had nothing to do with you"**

Everyone agreed.

**Leo wanted to believe that, but he couldn't. They'd started this voyage with Leo messing up, firing on New Rome.**

The Gods changed into their Roman forms for a moment.

Jupiter angrily banged his fist against the arm of his throne, "What?! The Son of Vulcan fired on New Rome?!"

Vulcan quickly began to read.

**They'd ended in old Rome with Leo break a cookie and paying a price much than an eye.**

The Gods back in their Greek forms and winced thinking about Ethan Nakamura.

**"Leo, listen to me." Hazel gripped his hand. "I won't allow you to take the blame. I couldn't beat that after—after Sammy…"**

"Who's Sammy?" Aphrodite asked and thought, _a possible love triangle?_

"That was Esperanza's grandfather's name and her father's name…" Hephaestus said quietly, thinking of her.

Aphrodite almost cringed hearing that name; the jealous goddess leaned closer to Ares.

Their relationship was complicated to say the least…

**She chocked up, but Leo knew what she meant. His ****_bisabuelo_**** had blamed himself for Hazel's disappearance. Sammy had lived a good life, but he'd gone to his grave believing that he'd spent a cursed diamond and doomed the girl he loved.**

"How sad…" some of the Goddess said, Aphrodite didn't take notice, she continued to flirt with the God of War.

Hephaestus sighed and continued to read.

**Leo didn't want to make Hazel miserable all over again, but this was different. ****_True success requires sacrifice._**** Leo had chosen to break the cookie. Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. That couldn't be a coincidence.**

The God of the ocean rubbed his forehead, "I don't like the sound of that…"

**Nico di Angelo shuffled over, leaning on his black sword. "Leo, they're not dead. If they were, I could feel it."**

Hestia smiled softly at Poseidon, "They're alive so that's good…"

**"How could you be sure?" Leo asked. "If that pit really led to…you know…how could you sense them so far away?"**

"They can't be one hundred percent sure, but they'll know when it happens…" Hades said quietly getting more nasty looks from Demeter.

_She could have done better…_ Demeter thought.

**Nico and Hazel shared a look, maybe comparing notes on their Hades/Pluto death radar.**

The God of the Underworld rubbed his forehead flashing from Hades to Pluto back to Hades.

**Leo shivered. Hazel had never seemed like a child of the Underworld to him, but Nico di Angelo—that guy was creepy.**

Apollo and Hermes glanced at Hades, "Like father like son…" the mumbled.

**"We can't be one hundred percent sure," Hazel admitted. "But I think Nico is right. Percy and Annabeth are still alive…at least, so far."**

"So far…" Poseidon repeated.

**Jason pounded his fist against the rail. "I should've been ****_paying attention_****. I could have flown down and saved them."**

**"Me too," Frank moaned. The big dude looked on the verge of tears.**

"Even if they had notice it was already too late…" Poseidon mumbled and then finally stood up, "I must go my kingdom needs me."

Everyone watched as he disappeared.

Hestia looked over to Hera and Demeter, "I will talk to him after this…"

They both nodded, knowing their brother he needed time.

**Piper put her hand on Jason's back. "It's not your fault, either of you. You were trying to save the statue."**

**"She's right," Nico said. "Even if the pit hadn't been buried, you couldn't have flown into it without being pulled down. I'm the only one who has actually been into Tartarus.**

Hades winced, _that's what happened…_

**It's impossible to describe how powerful that place is. Once you get close, it sucks you in. I never stood a chance."**

**Frank sniffled. "Then Percy and Annabeth don't stand a chance either?"**

"No…" Zeus began, "Poseidon is…right…they are very powerful demi-gods." He said it as if it hurt but everyone in the room agreed.

**Nico twisted his silver skull ring. "Percy is the most powerful demi-god I've ever met. No offense to you guys, but it's true. If anybody can survive, he will, especially if he's got Annabeth at his side. They're going to find a way through Tartarus."**

**Jason turned. "To the Doors of Death, you mean. But you told us it's guarded by Gaea's most powerful forces. How could two demigods possibly—?"**

"They are powerful…" Hades admitted and everyone stared. "What? I still can't stand them but they are powerful little brats…"

**"I don't know," Nico admitted. "But Percy told me to lead you guys to Epirus, to the mortal side of the doorway. He's planning on meeting us there. If we can survive the House of Hades, fight out way through Gaea's forces, then maybe we can work together with Percy and Annabeth and seal the Doors of Death from both sides."**

**"And get Percy and Annabeth back safely?" Leo asked.**

Everyone looked at the packet of papers hopefully.

**"Maybe."**

Their hope died down a bit.

**Leo didn't like the way Nico said that, as if he wasn't sharing all his doubts. Besides, Leo knew something about locks and doors. If the Doors of Death needed to be sealed from both sides, how could they do that unless someone stayed in the Underworld, trapped?**

"You're son is such an optimist…" Apollo said sarcastically to Hephaestus.

**Nico took a deep breath. "I don't know how they'll manage it, but Percy and Annabeth will find a way. They'll journey through Tartarus and find the Doors of Death. When they do, we have to be ready."**

**"It won't be easy," Hazel said. "Gaea will throw everything she's got at us to keep us from reaching Epirus."**

**"What else is new?" Jason sighed.**

**Piper nodded. "We've got now choice. We have to steal the Doors of Death before we can stop the giants from raising Gaea. Otherwise her armies will never die. And we've got to hurry. The Romans are in New York. Soon, they'll be marching on Camp Half-Blood."**

"Yes, keep up those happy thoughts…" Hermes said grinning.

Artemis rolled her eyes, "Would you guys shut up? This is serious!"

"Seriously boring…" Ares said. "It's all about Hephaestus nerdy son…"

"My son is not nerdy!"

"Boy that's enough!" Hera said sternly.

Hephaestus and Ares both grumbled.

**"We've got one month at best," Jason added. "Ephialtes said Gaea would awaken in exactly one month."**

**Leo straightened. "We can do it."**

"Whoa…this kid is actually being positive…talk about a plot twist…" Hermes joked.

**Everyone stared at him.**

**"The Archimedes sphere can upgrade the ship," he said, hoping he was right. "I'm going to study those ancient scrolls we got. There's got to be all kinds of new weapons I can make. We're going to hit Gaea's armies with a whole new arsenal of hurt."**

The God of Forges was grinning from ear to ear while reading this.

**At the prow of the ship, Festus creaked his jaw and blew fire defiantly.**

"I thought…" Hephaestus began but shook his head, "We'll figure that out later…"

**Jason managed a smile. He clapped Leo on the shoulder.**

**"Sounds like a plan, Admiral. You want to set the course?"**

**They kidded him, calling him Admiral, but for once Leo accepted the title. This was his ship. He hadn't come this far to be stopped.**

"That's my boy!" Hephaestus proudly said.

**They would find this House of Hades. They'd take the Doors of Death. And by the gods, if Leo had to design a grabber arm long enough to snatch Percy and Annabeth out of Tartarus, then that's what he would do.**

Everyone stared at Hephaestus who was still beaming with pride.

"I don't think your son is all there…" Zeus slowly said.

**Nemesis wanted him to wreak vengeance on Gaea? Leo would be happy to oblige. He was going to make Gaea sorry she had ever messed with Leo Valdez.**

**"Yeah." He took one last look at the cityscape of Rome, turning blood red in the sunset. "Festus, raise the sails. We've got some friends to save."**

"That's the end of it…." Hephaestus said getting up from his throne. "I'm getting back to my forges my son is giving me some amazing ideas…"

Aphrodite watched her husband leave, _his stupid work is more important than me…_

Hestia stood up as well, "and I will talk to Poseidon."

**Well that's the end of it, review please and thanks for reading :)**


End file.
